Ducks Unlimited Cinnamon Teal

In the spring of 2008 Jordan and I were nearing the end of our time in the DC area, we just didn't know it yet.  We had found a nice place in Old Town Alexandria, were both doing well in our jobs, and Jordan was expecting Frances (we may not have known that yet either!).  We learned of the Alexandria Ducks Unlimited Banquet that April and decided to go.  As it turned out, it was quite the affair, hosted at River Farm in Alexandria.  Now home to the American Horticultural Society headquarters, the Farm once belonged to George Washington.  We were a bit out of our league, but the entire evening was great.  The auctions were all way out of our price range, but we did spend the $50 for raffle tickets and a door prize.  The door prize turned out to be a nice, little cinnamon teal decoy, well worth every penny.

The markings on the bottom of the decoy aren't helpful in identifying the year, but I obviously remember well when and where I got it.  Unfortunately, I have no idea who carved the original from which this decoy was made.  The likely guess is that it was Jett Brunet, but I can't find anything to confirm that.  Either way, it has a great shape and I really like the finish.  The cinnamon parts look like a very light paint or heavy stain, just barely allowing some of the wood grain to show through.  The rest of the colors are more of a traditional paint finish.

The cinnamon teal shares a shelf with my original mini-mag tackle box and some of my first lures, and a blue wing teal decoy.  They are not matching decoys, the blue wing was not from Ducks Unlimited, but they are similar in size and look great together.  Now I just need to find a green wing to add to the collection!

My First Decoy

Profile of this beautiful working bluebill decoy

This was the first decoy in my collection, and the only one I had for several years.  Jordan was interning for Arnold & Porter in Washington, DC after her second year of law school.  I flew out to visit her and we made a day trip to her childhood home in the Washington's Crossing/Titusville area of New Jersey.  We went tubing on the Delaware River and stopped in the Decoys and Wildlife Gallery in Frenchtown.  At $225 we may have overpaid for it, I really have no idea, but it is a beautiful decoy.

Bottom and top views

The carver if the decoy is unknown, but the seller identified it as being from the late '30's or early '40's, and that it had been hunted over on the Delaware River.  The piece of metal on the bottom looks to be original, but I'm not sure how a weight was attached, or how it may have been attached to a decoy line.  The decoy has painted eyes and a hollow body, and is in nice shape except for the slight separation of the top and bottom halves.

You can see the separation between the top and bottom halves

Given that it was the first decoy I had purchased, and that Jordan and I had picked it out together, it holds a special place in the collection.  It is on the south wall, sharing a shelf with my duck calls and some other memorabilia.

The bluebill holds a special place in the collection

Stuffed Canvas Mallard

Stuffed Canvas Drake Mallard

I bought this unique little decoy for Christmas 2013.  It was an ebay purchase, and unfortunately I had relied on the ebay listing to record the story behind it.  When I started this blog and tried to go back and look at my old purchases I realized they don't keep the listings that long.  I know I paid $44 for the decoy, and I'll list the story below, as I remember it.

West wall of my gun room

I don't have the name of the owner or maker of the decoy, but from what I remember it was a homemade decoy and it dates back to the 1930's.  It was hunted over regularly in the Puget Sound-area, and helped provide a key source of food for the family throughout the Great Depression, and for many years to follow.

Damage around the neck

I have reached out to the seller to see if I can confirm that story.  I hope it's true, what a unique history!  The decoy itself is a little worse for the wear, and it's obvious some of the original stuffing was replaced at some point in recent years.  Hopefully by displaying the decoy where I have, out of direct sunlight, it will hold up for years to come.

Alongside the Longtail and the Bufflehead

The mallard is on display on the west wall of my gun room, along with the Captain Jobes Longtail and the David O'Neal Bufflehead.

Longtail by Captain Harry Jobes

Just like the redhead in the previous post, this longtail drake was carved and painted by Captain Harry Jobes of Havre de Grace, MD.  I ordered the longtail from Riverside Retreat  and Goosefoot Decoys as a combination birthday and Christmas present in early December of 2014.  The longtail is the second Captain Jobes decoy I have in my collection, to go along with matching buffleheads that I got for Grandpa P and Uncle Josh.

The longtail has a great paint job and a beautiful signature, including a date.  It had been a while since I had spent so much on a decoy, but given that it was carved by Captain Jobes and that I don't often see a longtail decoy, I thought it was worth the $85.

    It looks great on the south wall, next to my most recent purchase, the O'Neil bufflehead.

Redhead by Captain Harry Jobes

This drake redhead was carved and painted by Captain Harry Jobes, of Havre de Grace, MD.  I purchased the decoy for $48 at The Bird Store in Kill Devil Hills, NC, on the outer banks.  I visited The Bird Store this past June, with Grandpa P.  It was the second time I have visited the store, and the third purchase I've made there (matching Jobes buffleheads for Grandpa P and Uncle Josh, and an old ll bean cork widgeon for myself), and I am a big fan of the store.

The Bird Store has a long-standing relationship with Captain Jobes, and they have quite a few of his decoys for sale.  I have no idea of the age of this decoy, but I don't believe it's been hunted over, I believe it's always been a decorative decoy.  Regardless, it was carved by a legendary decoy maker (Jobes) who trained under another legendary carver (R. Madison Mitchell).  Also, it looks great on the shelf next to this beautiful canvasback.

Captain Jobes legacy lives on, as his three sons Bobby, Charles, and Joey all still actively carve and sell their decoys.  

North Carolina Bufflehead

This is a bufflehead decoy carved by David O'Neal from Ocracoke, NC.  At one time there was a weight attached to the bottom, but it has been removed.  There is an eye hook on the front to attach to a modern decoy cord and weight.  At 8.5 inches long and 4.5 inches wide, the decoy is slightly smaller than life-size.  There is no year on the bottom, and it does not look like it has been hunted over.

This was a Christmas 2015 purchase from ebay seller downptcoys and I got it for $35 total, including shipping.  As I did a little research, it looks like David O'Neal runs the Downpoint Decoy Shop in Ocracoke, NC along the outer banks.  We have vacationed in the outer banks several times, but always further north in Corolla.  The furthest south I've been is Kill Devil Hills, to visit The Bird Store.

The bufflehead is a nice little decoy, and is actually displayed next to a Capain Jobes longtail I had previously purchased.